Got a new printer

[Scotchmo]

Really cool print, just one thought on material. All composites are a give and take, you lose one attribute to gain another. 3d printing is no different, addition of carbon in filament can increase stiffness (if you get carbon fiber not the cheap carbon dust stuff) with a loss in layer adhesion. Pla and petg are not good carriers for carbon fiber, they become brittle and will have poor layer adhesion. The pla carbon and petg carbon filaments are just a marketing ruse. The materials will perform better in every way on their own without the addition of carbon.

That being said some materials make for a decent pairing with carbon fiber filaments, nylon and pc/pc blends make a pretty decent composite. A majority of my prints are using carbon nylon composites and have turned out quite well. Just a tip the nylon x is the best out there for functional parts, I have tried them all. Good luck, it's a fun hobby on its own

I've been fiddling with settings for the PLA/carbon using the 0.6mm hardened steel nozzle. After some trial and error, I'm getting decent looking parts but very poor layer-to-layer adhesion. I'm running another part right now with the print temp at 230c and turned off the part cooling fan. After all this trouble, it makes me appreciate PLA even more. I have gotten good parts using ABS filament. What do you think about a PLA/ABS composite?

Edit: The layers stuck together much better, but the surface was rough looking and the part dislodged from the plate about 1/3 of the way through. I'm going to try some straight ABS next for the printer carriages.

[Scotchmo]

It's been a while since I used straight ABS. I did not like it. Except for ABS having better temperature resistance, I prefer PLA. I then tried the PLA-F (PLA/ABS blend). The PLA-F prints almost as good as the PLA but feels less stiff. For the printer parts, I want stiff. OK, back to PLA. I'm running 3 roller PLA carriages right now with PLA effectors. I'm going to print some 4 roller PLA carriages that use the original Predator aluminum effectors. Theses carriages will be a little heaver and there will be two rollers each to adjust, but they should be more stable.

[Sbak]

Really cool print, just one thought on material. All composites are a give and take, you lose one attribute to gain another. 3d printing is no different, addition of carbon in filament can increase stiffness (if you get carbon fiber not the cheap carbon dust stuff) with a loss in layer adhesion. Pla and petg are not good carriers for carbon fiber, they become brittle and will have poor layer adhesion. The pla carbon and petg carbon filaments are just a marketing ruse. The materials will perform better in every way on their own without the addition of carbon.

That being said some materials make for a decent pairing with carbon fiber filaments, nylon and pc/pc blends make a pretty decent composite. A majority of my prints are using carbon nylon composites and have turned out quite well. Just a tip the nylon x is the best out there for functional parts, I have tried them all. Good luck, it's a fun hobby on its own

I've been fiddling with settings for the PLA/carbon using the 0.6mm hardened steel nozzle. After some trial and error, I'm getting decent looking parts but very poor layer-to-layer adhesion. I'm running another part right now with the print temp at 230c and turned off the part cooling fan. After all this trouble, it makes me appreciate PLA even more. I have gotten good parts using ABS filament. What do you think about a PLA/ABS composite?

Edit: The layers stuck together much better, but the surface was rough looking and the part dislodged from the plate about 1/3 of the way through. I'm going to try some straight ABS next for the printer carriages.

I think you will have to get away from pla all together. Kind of not worthy when you get to this point because it is a really good plastic, with good mechanical properties and piece of cake printing. It just doesn't do well with uv or heat. I have no experience with delta printers, but looking at the design it appears like you will be limited to 250degree and under temperatures do to the bowden tube set up. I would suggest one of two things, either try petg or annealing the pla in a bed of crushed salt. There will be no free lunches, your going to have to live with flex or dealing with some amount of warping do to the length of print.

[Sbak]

Another thought, I have 3d printed breaches before. I was able to do it semi successfuly by putting threaded rod linearly down in the sides and using aluminum inserts for the pressurized sections. You may be able to come up with something along those lines to add stability to the stock. Good luck

[Rob M]

Scott, seems like im the only one who thinks the stock doesnt flex.. I CANT see where it would flex?? maybe i missed something ?

[Sbak]

It won't flex with pla, but it will deteriorate over time with uv exposure and heat. It will flex with abs. If he wants a stock that will last he will have to get away from pla, doing that will create other challenges. If he is fine just printing another stock in pla when his warps/breaks then ignore the suggestions I made.

[Scotchmo]

I used standard 4080 v-slot c-beams to make my extended height Predator. That required new corner brackets. The first set was made of PLA and worked good but I wanted more stiffness. I did not have have much luck with the PLA/Carbon composite filament so I went another route for making the brackets more rigid. My friend John Bergquist has worked out his lost PLA investment casting process. I printed some thin wall PLA brackets with about 1.5% allowance for shrinkage. I think 1% allowance might be better in this case but it will depend on your materials and tolerances. John cast the brackets for me in aluminum alloy. I finished and painted the brackets. I'll install them on the printer tomorrow.

[Rob M]

those look perfect , hes obviously an expert

[Scotchmo]

those look perfect , hes obviously an expert

There are visible defects in the brackets. Though not perfect, they seem structurally sound.

We tried doing some Marauder valve bodies and they almost worked. The casting process that he uses has micro-porosity. At high pressures, they would leak. We tried sealing them which helped up to about 500psi but at 1000+ psi, they leaked a lot. He did cast scope rings and scope wheels. A breech might work since there is not much area to leak and it does not need to retain pressure over time.